


Waiting In Silence

by guardianofdragonlore



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Religious Conflict, Trek Rarepair Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-19 12:46:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianofdragonlore/pseuds/guardianofdragonlore
Summary: Winn waits for Nerys to finish praying. She waits for naught.





	Waiting In Silence

**Author's Note:**

> For the trek rarepair swap!

Winn didn't pray as often as Kira. It wasn't a lack of faith, in fact, it was entirely the opposite. Winn's gods were simply less demanding. 

"Would you like a cup of raktajino, Kira?" Winn stood in front of the replicator, hand hovering above the panel.

There was no answer. It was an unspoken rule of Kira's, one Winn pushed every day, not to acknowledge her during prayers. 

Sighing at the silence, Winn tapped out her drink. Voice commands were perfectly acceptable, but years in a prison camp conditioned a certain preference for stealth ... Or simply silence around those you don't trust. 

Winn ran a finger along the red links of her earring. Any moment Kira would finish. Any moment the room would return to normal, the weight of their differences would be less apparent, and the could be Adami and Nerys again. Kira just needed to finish praying. 

In the beginning, it had been... Difficult. Winn stared at the steam rising up from her cup without moving to take it. After all of Dukat's manipulation, his plan back fired. Somehow the pah- wraiths chose Winn. The events afterwards were a blur, the only solid memory was of the Prophet's Emissary pushing Dukat into the flames. The Cardassian's screams echoed in Winn's ears for days after. 

The Prophet's Emissary brought her back to the station. There she was treated for injuries, then released to do whatever she pleased. Technically, no crime was committed. For all involved, it would have been better if Winn left the sector entirely.

She didn't. 

Instead, Winn Adami waited. She didn't know why, but she knew deep within herself that her Gods wanted it. As she waited, she listened. Starfleet complained about reparation after the war. Bajorans complained about the "fall of the Kai". Ferengi..... They complained about everything. Months went by before Winn realized there was someone who didn't complain.

Kira Nerys. 

She argued, bickered, did everything that the Kai would have hated, but she never complained. Winn was drawn to it. 

"Do you remember the first time I sat down to talk to you?" Winn asked. She heard Kira shift. A small victory. "You slapped me in the middle of the Promenade and screamed."

Letting her hand fall from her earring, Winn turned to face Kira's altar. Raktajino could wait. 

"You received a formal reprimand that day," she said, "the first of many concerning me."

Kira sighed through her nose, but didn't move. 

"I didn't stop, and soon you tolerated me if we sat in total silence."

Winn almost added that it was like taming a wild animal. She didn't though; she didn't want to fight. Not tonight. Tonight she wanted to sit peacefully and relax. 

"Eventually we began to talk about various goings on of the station, remember that Kira?"

It was easy for Winn to remember the first talk. Cardassian refugees were stopping at the station for a layover. They mostly consisted of orphans and their caretakers. Absolutely silent, the orphans walked the long marches towards their quarters. Many Bajorans watched them with a sense of justice in their hearts.

Not Winn. As she watched a child bite their own hand when a passerby spat, she felt a sense of mourning. She said as much to Kira when she sat down. It was quite the surprise when Kira agreed with her. 

"The universe doesn't need anymore suffering, and I don't enjoy seeing it," Kira muttered into her mug. Winn nodded. That was that. But it was a beginning. 

In the present, Kira finished her prayers and turned to Winn.

"Adami," Nerys sighed," not tonight. I don't..."

Nerys' voice faltered before she could finished. Standing, she brushed past Adami and asked the replicator for a glass of cold water. 

Waiting for a sign, Adami stood still.

Nerys sipped her water slowly, staring at the mug still in the replicator. 

"I remember. I also remember saying I didn't want anything to do with the pah-wraiths or their Emissary," Nerys, Kira, hissed. 

Winn nodded. It would be one of those days. She turned away from the replicator and walked out of their quarters. It had been like this for the past three days. Eventually Nerys would return from her prayers. Winn knew how to wait. 

Adami knew how to wait.


End file.
